Aircraft Impacts Yard In Southwest Portland

ANN REALTIME REPORTING 06.15.07 1600 EDT: Three persons were killed Friday morning when a homebuilt Lancair impacted a wooded backyard in southwest Portland, OR.

The aircraft departed Portland-Hillsboro Airport at 0854 Friday morning, reportedly bound for Twin Falls, ID. Online flight tracking website flightaware.com indicates a Lancair IV Propjet left Hillsboro on an IFR flight plan at that time, heading for Joslin Field/ Magic Valley Regional.

FAA spokesman Mike Fergus confirms the accident aircraft, N42EX, is registered to William C. Shepard of Idleyld Park, OR. The identities of those onboard the plane (type shown below) haven't been released.

The impact left a three-foot-deep crater in the backyard of a home near Tryon Creek State Park and Lewis & Clark College, according to The Associated Press. A wide debris field was reported, though no one on the ground was injured and homes in the area appeared undamaged.

Several witnesses say they heard a long, whining sound that sounded like metal on metal shortly before the accident occurred.

Another witness, Susan Ferris told The Oregonian newspaper she heard the plane's engine stop before impact. "The engine ceased," she said. "I knew it was a plane that had come down too low somehow. I heard something coming down. I heard the end of this engine noise. "

Weather conditions throughout Portland were reported as cloudy and cool at the time of the accident.

FMI: www.faa.gov